1/HLI Military Cross and MiD 1915

[danlyon]

I wish I had not been taught that I should never rely on secondary sources. An obituary of Major-General Murray Murray-Lyon in the Journal of the Royal Highland Fusiliers (1 Jun 1975) recounted, in part : “… This was followed in April 1915 by the 2nd Battle of Ypres. It was during these operations that ‘Murray’ as he was known to his friends was first wounded. He returned to his Battalion later in the same year, and in the autumn the Battle for Loos was fought on September 25th – in which the Indian Corps took part in a subsidiary attack at Pietre ….. For the second time in one year, he was wounded, was awarded the Military Cross and Mentioned in Despatches ….. In 1916 after recovering from his wounds, he was appointed Adjutant of 4/HLI at Home.”

 

Easy. I should have stopped then. But the proprieties demanded that I should look at a primary source, such as the War Diary of 1/HLI, which was his Battalion at the time. However, that showed that he was first wounded on 12 Mar 1915, during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, and returned to duty on 28 Mar 1915. It then showed that he was wounded for a second time on 21 May 1915, during the 2^nd Battle of Ypres.

It may be the fault of the laconic diarist, or it may be my eyesight, but I cannot see that he returned to 1/HLI after that, either in time for the attack on Pietre or at all. Worse, the War Diary says that 1/HLI were in Reserve on 25 Sep 1915, over 20k from Loos. Meanwhile, as far as I can tell, five other HLI battalions took part in the Battle of Loos but none of them were involved in the Pietre diversion.

Houterman’s Indian Army Officers appears to confirm my anxieties : it has Murray in France only until 31 May 1915, ten days after he was wounded, then a long hiatus before he reappears on 9 Feb 1916, not with 1/HLI in France but with 4/HLI at Home. The inference from Houterman is that he must have been badly wounded, and took eight months to recover.

However, perhaps against that inference, the London Gazette confirms that he was both Mentioned and awarded a Military Cross early in Jan 1916 : those rewards seem to be far too long after the action in May 1915, and far more consistent with the action in Sep 1915. Houterman says that the Mention was for France while the MC was for Flanders.

But if he really was at Loos/Pietre, and being wounded for the third and not the second time, which Battalion was he with ? (When he married in Feb 1916 he signed the Register as a Captain, 1/HLI …..) There always seems to be a very simple answer to questions which defeat me : can anyone tell me what it is, please ?!

 

PS I have just found the DNW listing when his medals were sold. Their copious notes include "Murray-Lyon went to France with the 1st Battalion and was slightly wounded in the face at Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 … he was severely wounded -'spine and abdomen'- at Richbourg Ste Vaast on 22 May 1915 and was evacuated to England". So another secondary source suggesting that the Regimental obituarist got it quite wrong ….

Edited 28 December , 2019 by danlyon
Update

[Coldstreamer]

sometimes you do need to check as mistakes got made 

 

A jan 16 could be new years honours ?

 

I forum pal with access to the war diary might be able to tell you about the wounds

Edited 28 December , 2019 by Coldstreamer

[corisande]

War Diary of 1/HLI, which was his Battalion at the time. However, that showed that he was first wounded on 12 Mar 1915, during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, and returned to duty on 28 Mar 1915. It then showed that he was wounded for a second time on 21 May 1915, during the 2^nd Battle of Ypres.

 

If you look at BNA  reports such as Edinburgh Evening News 20 Mar 1915 and Scotsman 31 May 1915, he appears to have been wounded twice, each some days before the newspaper report

 

 

I can find no further reports to say he was wounded later in 2925

 

You should be able to follow is return to service by getting all his entries in LG where he gets promotions to, and relinquishes the promotions later when no longer in job for which he got the temp promotion

 

 

 

[danlyon]

Thanks Coldstreamer - I do have the 1/HLI War Diary, which has him as wounded in March and May, but is silent about September 

 

[danlyon]

Thanks Corisande - This is brilliant extra detail. I have combed the Gazette, and have found nothing to tell us where he was after the May wound until he was appointed to 4/HLI in 1916. So it really does look like a long convalescence after a very serious injury. I think I can fairly safely discount the Regimental obituarist's story at last ,,, thanks again.

[clk]

Hi danlyon,

 

23 hours ago, Coldstreamer said:

A jan 16 could be new years honours ?

 

Yes, it was (with no specific associated citation)...

 

 

 

 

All images sourced from TNA

 

His MiDs appear to have been gazetted as follows...

 

Images sourced from Ancestry 

 

In the absence of his service file, and as an alternative to the LG, might it be possible to establish his career through the army lists?

 

Regards

Chris

[danlyon]

Thanks Chris - his career is actually well documented, since he finished up as a WW2 Major-General who was expected to stop the Japanese when they suddenly arrived in Malaya. He had some very green Indian troops, no tanks and no air cover, but his boss thought he should have done better and sacked him. His boss then surrendered Singapore … To get back to this particular query, it was the Regimental obituary that was throwing me, and I think I am now comfortable that it was simply quite wrong. Murray-Lyon helpfully had the back of his DSO engraved to show the exact date and place that he had earned it, but didn't do the same for his MC so, as you say, it must not have had a specific citation, and was a reward for sustained bravery over a long period. Looking at the 1/HLI War Diary, with its horrendous casualty totals, I rather think they should all have got one. Thanks again, Dan

[corisande]

8 hours ago, danlyon said:

sacked him.

 

Yes, I was surprised that there was not a Times obit for him when he died. Presumably due to the unforgiveing memory of the Establishment